Edward Maglio
Edward B. Maglio is the main character of Gods of Darkness. He is a freshman at Evergreen Institute. Biography Early life Not much is known about Edward's early life, other than the fact that he was born prematurely. He is the middle child, with an older sister named Marsha and a younger sister named Natalie, along with triplets (who are his older sisters): Olivia, Ava, and Marsha. At a young age, he was found to have possession of an unusually high IQ by the time he was in kindergarten, and that he graduated high school early as a result of his higher-than-normal IQ. Some time later, during his freshman year of high school, his mother Diana revealed to her husband (and Edward's father) Bill that she had another child while she was with another man, and out of anger at his wife for keeping this from him, Bill left the Maglio residence for a drive to cool off. He later returned after having spoken to friends of Diana's that confirmed her story. He was still unhappy at his wife for keeping the revelation from him for so long, but as time went on, he forgave his wife for lashing out in anger. Unbeknownst to Bill, the incident left Edward with a fascination over his half-sister and he later obsessed over finding out who this sibling may be. War on Kai Acar TBA Student at Evergreen Institute He is enrolled at Evergreen Institute, in St. Louis, MO, as a freshman. He is also acquainted with various different campus organizations. During his time there, he is also involved in the Evergreen Scandal: he suspects that fellow Psychology student and Chinese international student Fu Zedong is up to no good investigates and forms a student investigation task force that exposes a cheating circle of students that Fu has created. Becoming a superhuman During the 2019-2020 Semester, Edward learned of a new brand of soda that supposedly would "revolutionize soft drinks forever", known as Wonder-Cola. He entered in a sweepstakes for a chance to obtain a free box of Wonder-Cola and won. Eddie brought his spoils back to his college dorm with him, where he tried Wonder-Cola for the first time. Unbeknownst to Eddie, the Wonder-Cola contained a serum that enhanced a human's physical capabilities. Henceforth, when he woke up the next morning, he found that he was now in possession of a variety of new abilities; all his senses were amplified and he had heightened reflexes. He also possessed pain suppression abilities, superhuman strength, and enhanced physical endurance, effectively becoming superhuman in the process. However, his powers really manifested themselves during an attempt to stop a robbery, during which he was able to singlehandedly defeat every single opponent with little to no effort. Realizing what he had become, Edward was overcome with a mixture of shock and elation. He would later come to use his powers to fight the Black Widows during the Campaign against Black Widow. War on the Eternals Later, during a vacation to Venezuela, a series of acts of injustice leads Edward and his family to create The Righteous Crusaders, a vigilante gang that soon attracts followers from anti-government rebels fighting the Venezuelan Civil War. He also formed an alliance with three hitmen, with which they initially butted heads with, and took down El Toro together. Most notably, his superhuman abilities were further strengthened during a battle against El Monstro, who attacked him by throwing a mysterious alien known as Creature X at him, splattering him with a mysterious venom that enhanced his superhuam abilities even further, in addition to giving him new ones. Stopping El Toro After nearly decimating El Toro's cartel, Edward was informed by Arrowhead that El Toro was seeking blood and wanted to kill Edward's sister Marsha as an example to anyone else who dared to challenge him. Seeking to get to Marsha first, Edward pursued El Toro and his men across Caracas, Venezuela, while El Toro taunted him over a phone call. However, once he reached a hotel in the center of the city, Edward found El Toro holding Marsha captive on the rooftop of a hotel, threatening to throw her to her death unless Edward and his friends and family surrendered. Edward instead pointed out that rebels were surrounding the hotel and he would either have to choose between getting killed by Edward, or gunned down by the rebels. El Toro laughed it off and began boasting about how he was "invincible" and that even in death, El Toro would continue to haunt Edward's dreams. Marsha took advantage of his distraction by biting El Toro's wrist. She then tried to escape, but was knocked unconscious by El Toro. He then pulled out a knife and attempted to stab Edward, but the latter was able to disarm him. The drug lord then engaged in a fistfight against Edward, during which El Toro nearly beat Edward to a bloody pulp. However, the fight ended with Edward emerging victorious, killing El Toro by breaking his neck with one punch before collapsing from his injuries. He later awoke in a hospital in Caracas, with his friends, his family, and the rebels rejoicing over his return to consciousness, with rebel leader Rodrigo Carballal remarking that Edward might be "invincible" due to having survived a lot of things that could have killed him. Edward gave thanks to God instead before remarking that fighting El Toro was like fighting a sumo wrestler. Creating a Vigilante Gang Sometime after returning from Venezuela, Edward and his fellow Evergreen Institute allies decided to form a new organization and therefore upgraded the Fraud Investigation Unit into an independent crime-fighting organization known as the Reapers. Return to Venezuela & meeting his aunt In 2020, Edward returned to Venezuela after seeing a news report of his aunt Courtney fighting alongside Venezuelan rebels against a new dictatorship in the country, courtesy of Division 9. Confused as to why his aunt would fight in Venezuela and concerned for her well being, Edward returned to Venezuela, against the wishes of his familly. Upon his arrival in Venezuela, he was stunned to learn that Rodrigo Carballal had died of pneumonia and that the resistance had torn itself asunder due to factionalism in the wake of Rodrigo's death. He later scoured the country for leads on his aunt, eventually learning that his aunt was somewhere near the Orinoco River. Reaching a small Venezuelan village, Edward was suddenly ambushed by the remnants of Los Eternos, only to be saved by his own aunt, who had become a masked vigilante warrior known as Jane the Ripper. Courtney initially scolded Edward for following her, claiming she left explicit instructions to stay behind in the US. Edward retorted by using his father's death at the hands of Los Eternos to justify his actions, not wanting to lose another family member to the Venezuelans. Courtney later revealed that her husband Damien was being held captive by Division 9. Tracking Damien to a Division 9 outpost in the Venezuelan desert, the two successfully extracted Damien following a stealthy break-in. Edward, Courtney and Damien then began working together to conduct sabotage operations against Division 9, assassinating key Division 9 officers in order to weaken the new dictatorship government, while simultaneously rebuilding the scattered resistance fighters. Divisions in the family TBA Personal details Physical appearance Edward stands at 196 lbs, and he is 5'10". He has a face resembling the actor KJ Apa, but a body like the actor Chris Evans. Although he is eighteen, he physically resembles a man in his early twenties. This is because he suffers from progeria. Personality Edward is portrayed as a young man with a "knight-errant" mentality similar to Don Quixote; he feels like it's his life's work to expose criminals and do good for everybody. He can also be incredibly comedic, cracking jokes in order to lighten up even dark situations. Habits and beliefs Edward hates the song Gortoz a Ran, denouncing the song as a "propaganda tool for suicidal people". He irrationally believes those who perform the song are "idiots" who do not care for the feelings of others (even if he never told such people the song affects him in that way). He does enjoy heavy metal and pop, though he finds Ariana Grande songs annoying and constantly parodies them. Edward is a Christian, having been saved at the age of 9 and baptized when he was 17, prior to graduating high school. He makes it a goal to live his life role modeling Jesus Christ and being a light to others in the hopes that he will win people over to Christ through lifestyle. However, he finds street preachers a problem; in his mind it is impossible to tell whether a street preacher is really speaking for the cause of Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that he has told radical street preachers to their faces during the 2019 Religious Riots that they are "Pharisees masquerading as Prophets" and "broods of vipers masquerading as sheep." This attitude really showed during a confrontation with a radical Oneness Pentecostal street preacher, during which he got in the street preacher's face and called him a "Whitewashed 21st Century Bigot disguised as God's messenger" in front of a mass of angry protesters and even accused him of "helping the Enemy divide the church." He is also a very moral individual, always speaking out against injustice or government corruption. This trait of Edward's has shown itself at various times; he admitted to savagely roasting a bully on social media back in high school when he saw a Facebook thread involving a notorious school bully verbally slandering a friend of his from high school. He also has stood up for people; during one incident in his second year of college, he defended Ilgin Arman against a known misogynist, telling him off in front of a whole group of people. This point is further reinforced when he erupts in an angry rant against Sezen Ulas after the latter express doubts about fighting the Babylon Coalition after discovering that a majority of the Babylon Coalition members were friends of Sezen's from a while back. Powers, skills and Abilities Skills *'Deductive reasoning': Edward is quite good at forming conclusions due to available evidence, though sometimes he comes up with conflicting theories during criminal investigations. *'Hand-to-hand combat': Edward is quite proficient in hand-to-hand combat, his favored moves being headbutts, groin shots, and punches to the liver in a kill-or-be-killed fighting situation. He currently incorporates a mixed fighting style incorporating elements of Keysi Fighting Method, Krav Maga, Kali, and Silat, among many others. Edward was also taught Army Combatives by his ex-military father and uncle. Abilities *'Bond empowerment': Creature X's bite gave Edward the rather uncanny ability to grow physically stronger simply by creating new friendships with other people. *'Bulletproof skin': The saliva in Edward's body actually fortified his immune system, which has somehow rendered his skin bullet bulletproof. Getting shot still hurts, however. Edward is nearly invincible because of this (he can still die from being run over by vehicles or falling off the Empire State Building, though). *'Damage Empowerment': Edward's injuries actually strengthen him in a fight (though he can still pass out from blood loss), which has led to many shocking moments when enemies attempting to kill Edward shoot or stab him in an area where they think he'll die, only to see him charge towards them like a freight train despite his injuries. *'Pain Suppression': Element X gave Edward the ability to easily shrug off otherwise painful injuries, with the saliva in Edward's body acting as a sort of painkiller. *'Enhanced Durability': Edward's body can also resist bodily damage, which allowed him to take numerous blows of internal or external assaults. However, like his uncle Barry, this does not make Edward invincible-it merely allows him to last longer in a hand-to-hand fight before going down. *'Enhanced Endurance': Edward can run at a longer distance than most people, which allows him to outrun Scandinavian Olympians if he wanted to. *'Enhanced Strength': The saliva within Creature X's system caused a mutation that gave Edward superhuman strength, allowing him to fight people much bigger than himself. He could crush a door inwards simply by kicking it hard enough. This ability also made Edward a nightmare in a hand-to-hand fight; this was evidenced by his fight with El Toro; though El Toro was able to beat Edward down due to his large size and physique, Edward was able to overpower El Toro and kill him. *'Enhanced Survivability': Similar to his uncle Barry, Edward possesses the ability to survive things that a normal person cannot. He was able to survive a fall from a bridge into an icy lake that should have killed him, and he was also able to survive falling out of a helicopter and landing in a lake in Venezuela, which would've killed him under normal circumstances. *'Hunger Suppression: '''Edward can go for long periods of time without eating anything *'Enhanced Hearing': The saliva inside Edward's body greatly enhanced his hearing ability to the point where his hearing skills were akin to that of a bat or a Sperm Whale; Eddie can clearly hear anyone and anything, ranging from distant conversations and even breathing hundreds of meters. He can also "focus" on what he hears, able to single out one particular sound from a cacaphony of other sounds. This allows him to hear a cry for help even in a crowded area from miles away. This was demonstrated during Operation Cemetery; Edward knew that Task Force Anubis agents had entered the underground Division 9 facility, when nobody else could, simply by listening for the telltale voices of Liliana Fulton/Arrowhead and her comrades. *'Echolocation': Edward also possesses an enhanced form of human echolocation, which helps him greatly. This power is only activated if Edward is either blinded, or in a dark room where he cannot see anything whatsoever. When active, Edward can actively create and listen for sounds, which allow him to pinpoint where someone is in a totally dark environment. It is due to this that he doesn't need night vision goggles in a dark environment. *'Enhanced Smell': Edward also has enhanced smell due to Creature X. The various odors in an environment allow him to construct an accurate image of what may have happened in a particular area, even though Edward wasn't even physically present in that area. *'Enhanced Taste': Edward has enhanced taste buds due to Creature X's saliva. He can easily tell someone's physical state, simply by smelling. He was able to detect that Marsha Maglio had been tortured while being held captive due to smelling blood on Marsha's body. *'Enhanced Touch': In a dark environment, Edward can feel someone's presence via vibrations, air currents and body temperatures. This also allows him to dodge gunfire in various dark environments, simply by detecting the ripple of currents created by flying bullets. *'Replication: Edward can voluntarily clone himself. This virtually makes him invincible, as he can make as many copies of himself as he can and confuse villains so much that nobody can tell the real Edward apart from a clone. Unlike the real Edward, the so-called "Edward Clones" are killable. *Decoy Creation: The real Edward can use his clones to distract enemies, allowing the real Edward to escape undetected. *Cloning Combat: Edward is able to fuse replication with physical combat, utilizing his clones to attack enemies in a swarm. Relationships Family *Bill Maglio: Edward was quite close with his father throughout his life, so much so that his death at the hands of Los Eternos affected Eddie greatly. *Barry Maglio: Edward is very close to his uncle, even more so than his father. Edward sees Barry as one of his many role models. *Marsha Maglio: TBA *'''Ava Maglio: TBA *'Olivia Maglio': TBA *'Natalie Maglio': TBA *'Courtney Norris': TBA Romance TBA Friends *'Lewis Jordan': Edward and Lewis have been close since high school, sort of like Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes from the Marven Cinematic Universe. *'Ava Clancy': Edward had a crush on Ava in the past, but now he regards her as nothing more than a friend. *'Kyle Bates:' Edward isn't super close to Kyle, but they still get along quite well. *'Douglas Harris': Despite the massive difference in worldviews, Doug and Edward still happen to get along quite well-unless Edward gets into an annoying theological ramble. *'Harper Michaels': Edward is not super close with Harper but often speaks to her when he has the chance. *'Olivia Martin': Edward was initially hesitant to start a friendship with Olivia Martin due to her status as a married woman but thus far, their friendship hasn't turned into an affair...yet. *'Sezen Ulas': Edward is good friends with Sezen Ulas, although they aren't super close. Even though Edward barely knows Sezen, the latter is somewhat protective of him, something Edward has found confusing on multiple occasions. *'Ilgin Arman': TBA *'Warhawk': TBA *'Adrian Bianco': TBA *'Ryan Foster': Although Ryan and Edward do know each other, they are not close friends. Rather, they consider each other acquaintances, but they are working towards a level of friendship. Trivia *He is a huge fan of the Resident Evil franchise. *He is the tallest of the Maglio children. *Edward is the only male child out of all the Maglio children *Originally, Edward was supposed to receive the power of psychokinesis from Creature X, which he would then use to telekinetically dismember El Toro during their final battle. However, this was changed to avoid making El Toro's death too gory. *He is afraid of eating anything with hot sauce due to a particular embarrassing incident involving chilly hot food in China three years ago. Quotes "You put your hands where I can see 'em, or I put you down right now!" - Edward Maglio to La Plaga "Ralph? Ralph, buddy-this isn't a good idea! You're taking this too far! She has nothing to do with this!" - Edward Maglio trying to stop Black Manta from killing El Toro's daughter. "Shoot straight for once, you Army pukes." - Edward Maglio to a squad of Division 9 soldiers Dialog with others "We aren't salvaging anything! We're not just taking down the Turkish Mafia-we're going to war against the Turkish government! The government is corrupt, you said so yoursel! The Turkish Mafia and Babylon Coalition-they're all in cahoots now! Aydogan and Gulsu made that point clear the day we overheard Kai talking with the President! Meanwhile, the Babylon Coalition'' is expanding its ops worldwide, to the point where they're basically the CIA of the criminal underworld, and NOBODY NOTICED!"'' "Why do you think we are meeting here in this cave...we ''noticed!"'' "How many paid the price before you did? Once the Babylon Coalition is done here, where do you think they're gonna go next? Venezuela? Russia? China? Our own United States?!? The Babylon Coalition is a cancer, and you said yourself you wanted to shut it down." "Yes, but..." "But what's stopping you? Is it because you're afraid you're gonna kill some of your friends? The people you trained with, grew up with, fought with? Let me tell you something: your 'old friends' stopped being old friends the day they decided to work with the Coalition. You need to move past that-these people aren't your friends anymore. So either we GET OFF OUR LAZY REAR ENDS and GO TO WAR against these fools, or they get powerful enough to take over another country. It's your choice." - Edward Maglio arguing with Sezen Ulas about how they're going to take out the Babylon Coalition "What are you, invincible, ''cumpa? ''Because you have survived a lot of things that would kill a normal man!" "Nah, it's just God showering His blessings on me every day so I wouldn't die young." - Rodrigo Carballal and Edward Maglio "Dude, you fought a guy ten times your size and won! How does that feel?" "Like I just beat a sumo wrestler....El Toro was quite a bulky guy!" "He was a mountain of meat, and you were just a scrawny little guy-well, until you had superpowers." - Mason Davidson and Eddie Maglio Gallery KJ Apa as Edward B. Maglio.png Category:Characters Category:Superhumans Category:Evergreen Institute students Category:Evergreen Institute Students